Grasping at Straws

It's axiomatic in daily journalism that reporters try to get there ahead of the pack. But there are times when this eagerness to score a scoop can backfire.
Witness the Oct. 6 dispatch by Karin Brulliard, the Washington Post's Jerusalem bureau chief, about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apparently tempering suggestions of a possible strike on Iranian nuclear sites. By itself, the thesis of her article is problematic. While pushing for ever-tougher sanctions against Tehran, Israel has never renounced a military option if sanctions prove inadequate.
But where Brulliard's piece really runs off the rails is where she speculates about Netanyahu's supposed reasons for delaying a possible military strike until mid-2013, well after the U.S. presidential elections. Previously, Brulliard opines, when Netanyahu held open the possibility of hitting Iranian nuclear sites before the elections, he sparked criticism of "interfering in the U.S. election," presumably in favor of Mitt...(Read Full Post)